A Beautiful Flame: A New Way Of Living
by foreverdisneyfan
Summary: Omi escaped, she learns to survive on her own until a Family adopted her & taught her everything she needs to know. Although she can bend, she still has a lot to learn. This Family brought her the love she longed for, but will she be safe? since wanted signs are starting to post everywhere & bounty hunters are eager to find her & bring her into 'justice' that she doesn't deserve...
1. Chapter 1

_Yo yo yo!-_

 _OK no, but yes H'lo again everybody, I am NOT dead, maybe I was for a time but thankfully this upload has brought me back to life, whew! I must apologize to everyone for the wait, I know I said once before that I wouldn't keep you all waiting because who wants to wait?*no one*_

 _Nobody got time for that!_

 _I have to say Life surely does get in the way, darn you Life! XD but anyways, I loved all the feedbacks I have received, so I owe you guys a sequel, here ya go and enjoy!_

* * *

 **~~~A New Way Of Living~~~**

Days...

Maybe even weeks have passed since escaping from the fate of a possible death sentence. Though it was a risky choice, she was glad she ran away, but it meant that she has to keep running. Bounty hunters and any greedy civilians would do anything to capture her and turn her into that so-called "justice" which, by the way, wouldn't offer her any protection and would sentence her straight to death, since by law, a slave who can bend is a threat to anyone.

But right now there's also another thing to worry about; survival. She was still a mere child without any proper education, she couldn't read nor write, far worse knowing about surviving in a big forest! At night She walked with caution using her fire bending to light the way, hoping that no dangerous animal would be lurking nearby. The forest was much more bigger and scary at night, she felt as if eyes from the distance were watching her and jumped at anything that rustled in the darkness.

One cold night, when she was trying to warm herself by a small fire, a crack was heard in the Blackened forest. Terror grew, as an armadillo bear came into view, snarling at her. She frozed pale white as the humongous beast confronted her . Nervously, she grabbed a piece of fire wood and waved frantically at the bear, it growled loudly and started to smack the fire away from its face.

"Get back!" Omi grunted, The bear hit Omi with his paw, causing her to fall onto the ground with her sleeve ripped, she rapidly stumbled onto her feet and ran. The bear cried a loud roar and went chasing after her. Looking over her shoulder, the bear was gaining incredible speed, surely it was hungry, and she was dinner.

Omi panted heavily as she ran frantically for her life. Until she fell onto a deep and narrow ditch, The fall hit her head and her eyesight got blurry, she looked up and saw the shadow of the bear getting closer, it growled and dangerously reached his claws towards her head, jerking back into a corner, she held her knees tightly and sat still. Watching in horror as the bear dangerously tried to clawed her only a few inches away. Thankfully, It wasn't long until the bear gave up and left.

Omi trembled, she was _this_ close to being eaten, she whimpered silently through the night, feeling the pain in her head, and losing hope of survival.

After that incident, she began to teach herself how to climb trees, hopefully spending the night in higher places would keep her out of harm's way.

After a few slips and falls, she finally was able to climb as high as she liked.

If there was any luck she would find an empty log to spend the night or a small cave to crawl in if there was any chance of rain; it was also another method to stay out of harm's way. Her best chance is that she'd find lychee nuts in the woods for food.

More countless weeks had passed, somehow she'd manage to keep herself alive, although the continuous lack of food made her feel weak and her clothing became a wider fit then it was.

Alas, the desperation for food was hard to bear. But an opportunity arrived when she spotted a nearby camp, (probably travelers). That same night, when everyone was asleep, she sneaked in quietly, taking most of their food and supplies.

Then climbed a tree far from the camp and slept there until dawn. At the following morning, she ate most of the food until her hunger finally dissapeared.

That Morning, one of the campers came out of their tent. He groaned as he stretched out his arms,

"What a night," He exclaimed,

"What do you mean? You slept like a log," His fellow companion added,

"Agh! don't bother me, you know I'm not the morning type," He said as he headed a direction towards the woods. His companion stayed to light a fire again for breakfast, while it was slowly gaining life, he took out his bag and search to find any food he could cook.

"Uh... Meng, Do you have any spare food?"

"It has to be in my bag!" Meng responded from behind a bush.

The Camper looked through Meng's bag.

"There's nothing in here!"

"What? Look inside my tent for my other one!"

He did as he was told, he look through the tent but no bag was even there!

"It's not in here, everything's gone!" The camper scratched his head, how could this be? Two men sleeping in their own tents with their own stuff, it's not like some creature came in and took everything. They were miles away from any sign of civilization so there couldn't be another human...

"Meng, I think we've been **robbed**!" He exclaimed,

"Oh no!..." Meng said as he panicked

" uh... could you see if we still have any paper!"

His fellow camper face-palmed himself in defeat.

Farther away, Omi happily stretched her limbs and climbed down with caution, she walked with a skip to her step, her stomach didn't ache nor rumble anymore, since her dinner last night was quite an appetizing meal. She decided that the best way she could survive was continuously robbing from travelers at night.

* * *

 _I Hope you guys are satisfied-_

 _satisfied?_

 _I don't think that's the word but nyeh..._

 _Anyways, it's a short chapter but there IS more a'comin'.. please stay tuned for the next chapter of **'A Beautiful Flame: A New Way Of Living'**_

 _aaand I always accept the feedbacks, I'm actually begging on my knees! please please plllease give me some feedbacks I love them all like cookies!_

 _Until Then!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Heyyy everybody, just a short note,**

 **1) I do not own Avatar: The Last Air bender, the characters: Zuko, Azula, Fire lord, etc. But the rest are indeed my own creation.**

 **2) I hope you all enjoy it! :D**

* * *

Zuko walked through the halls, he looked out the windows watching the birds fly, eying at the Fire Nation's City that will someday become his.

When his Grandfather passed away unexpectantly, His father was there to receive the throne, now that he's the Fire lord, Zuko and Azula are now crowned as Prince and Princess of the fire nation.

Zuko as the oldest and only male child would be next in line for the throne. Hopefully it would be enough to win his father's approval.

Maybe it was a chance to be seen as his son, than being neglected.

When His Uncle Iroh came back from the siege at Ba Sing Se, to Zuko's surprise, His Uncle did not fight back for his right to the throne. Zuko didn't dare to ask him why, he was afraid that he would see his Uncle like how Azula saw him; an _"Old fool who only talks nonsense and tea,"_  
But Zuko always saw his Uncle as Kind and wise, besides, He treats him better than his own Father.

"Why so silent Zuzu?" Azula asked when she caught him staring out the windows, Zuko never faced her, Azula crossed her arms and then smirked.  
"Thinking about Mei?"

 _~Oh yeah, she lives right outside.~_ He thought kindly, ever since his mother left and Omi was taken, Mei became more communicative with him, she's a nice girl, though he had to admit he's still trying to warm up to her since she is still considered as Azula's friend and he wasn't crazy with the idea of being around his sickening sister.

But then again, he misses the conversations he had with Omi and the games they've played, but Azula kept telling him to forget everything,

 _"Ugh, forget about it, those games were stupid and childish, If she was still here she would just get in the way,"_

He frowned remembering what she said, but he couldn't help to feel as if half of it was the truth.

 _"Besides she's the past and being stuck in the past isn't wise, now that you're the crown prince and rightful heir to the throne, you must look ahead and prepare for that big responsibility"_

Although he knew that his Sister's words were wise at that point but it was plain jealousy hiding behind a mask, Zuko sighed and shooked his head, he decided that his destiny from now on is set to a new road: Please his father, have an honorable name and become a powerful leader.

"You're so weird," Azula sighed when her brother never said a word.

"Azula, wait," He walked up to her,

"Have you seen Uncle?"

Azula arched a brow,

"He's at the pavilion, remember?" She sighed,

"It's tea time for the old man," She rolled her eyes at the thought of a man who's only pleasure is to sit and drink a hot beverage,

He turned without another word, heading up the hall.

"Exactly _what_ were thinking, Zuko?"

 _A lot of things; things gained, things lost, things unknown._

"Nothing..." He responded coolly,

"absolutely nothing"

This left Azula even more confused.

"Hmph, even more weirder than I thought," She murmured as she walked the opposite direction.

One morning, Omi woke up sleeping on a tree that she climbed to spend the night, it was not the most comfortable, but being a slave, what is exactly comfortable? She untied the rope(stolen) that she always used to secure herself to the tree branch in case if she ever fell. She took of her cape (stolen) and fold it nicely, placing it into her new pack (stolen) and swung it over her back before climbing down ever so carefully.

She muttered to herself _why_ she had the brilliant idea to climb higher than usual, on a 10 foot tall tree! she carefully placed a foot on one branch, but then the weight from her pack shifted unexpectantly, making her lose her grip and slipping. She struggled but the weight from her pack pulled her down until she finally fell.

She was falling, she tried to let out a scream until her head hit hard against one of the branches. Luckily her pack broke her fall, but her head spinned and quickly lost consciousness.

The sun went down, only a few rays of light divided the night and day. A weary traveler came towards the path, it was until his Ostrich-horse blinked and squawk towards a direction way-off the road, the stranger tried to calm his beast but it ran toward a tall tree and stopped only a few meters away, he jumped down and observed the beast curiously who stared straight ahead, he followed it's gaze.

There was a girl, lying unconsciously nearby a tall tree. He gasped and ran towards the body, Her head was bleeding, he lightly placed his fingers on the side of her neck, a pulse was felt, he was relieved that she was still alive, but barely.

He bandaged the girl as best as he could. He couldn't stay to help the girl in plain forest, her injury must be taken care of right away by a real doctor.

So he picked the weightless girl up into his arms and placed her on top of the beast. He patted the Ostrich-horse's head.

 _Smart Animal._

"Come on, there's still a journey ahead of us," He said as he pulled the reins, leading them towards home.

* * *

Sounds of laughter filled the air, two children ran through the field, playing and basking in the sun, feeling it's summer heat. They were inseparable, but when they faced their own lives alone, they were mistreated, encouraged, loved and hated. It was confusing, but it was their own lives.

 _"You can't bend..."_

 _"You're weak..."_

 _"You're a slave..."_

 _"I hate being like this!"_

 _"I hate being... me"_

The sun shone brighter than before, but there was no more pleasant summer heat, the field was bear, and the air was filled with smoke and cries, it was worse than the end of the world, it was the beginning of a horrible one.

* * *

After three days...

Omi shot her eyes open, she swore she smelled smoke but it was the smell of dusty hay,a dampened cloth layed on top of her forehead. As her eyesight cleared, she saw a wooden ceiling until a nose sniffed her face.

"Agh!" She yelled, she sat up immediately, the creature wailed in response.

"Don't worry," She heard a female giggle,

"These creatures are harmless," A young woman in a pink robe came to the creature and scratched it's ears, then she crouched down to take a better look at the girl.

"You're just a child," She said sympathetically.

" where are your parents?" The young woman pushed on,

"I... um... my... parents are gone,"

Omi just glanced away sadly, folding her hands on her lap, The young woman understood. This poor young girl was homeless and orphaned.

"are you feeling better?How's your head?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

 _My... head?_

Omi placed her hand on her head, It was wrapped and bandaged, her fingers ventured through, feeling pain at the back of her head as she pressed her fingers against her skull. The young woman took Omi's hand away.

"Don't do that, you've suffered from a serious head injury and I don't want you passing out on me,"

Omi was confused, she couldn't remember how it happened. The woman saw her lost expression and sighed as she finally realized that this young girl probably suffered from amnesia, who knows what kind of memories had she lost.

"Do you remember your name?"

Omi shook herself from her own shock.

"Um... my name... is... Omi," She said, rubbing her temple. The young woman nodded in relief, at least she remembers who she is.

"Here, have some water, Omi," The young woman gave her a small canteen of water,

"You must be-" She was interrupted when Omi snatched the canteen from her hands

"...Thirsty," The woman shrugged, Omi rapidly drank the entire canteen, the water was cool and refreshing, her dried throat was finally relieved.

"Hey, hey, don't drown yourself," The woman teased seeing how Omi chugged all the water at once,

"Do you have any more?" Omi asked desperately when the canteen was finally empty, the woman smiled warmly.

"Yes, but first, let's get you inside," She said as she lend a hand towards her.

"In-inside?"

"Why, inside the house of course! I won't be having a guest stay at a barn house," The woman smiled, Omi looked at her hand and took it.

"O-okay..." She replied shyly.

The young woman, Nuan, had a family, she lived with her parents alongside with her husband, Kahn. They welcomed her warmly, except for Nuan's mother, the elderly lady eyed her with profound distrust.

"Mother, this is Omi,"

The old lady just grumbled and left to enter the kitchen,

"Breakfast is about to serve," Kahn said with a friendly smile,

"Please Omi, join us," Nuan's father invited, Omi gave a small smile.

"There's not enough for everyone!" Nuan's mother yelled from the kitchen,

"It's alright mother, We will all share," Nuan responded. Omi bit her lip, that old lady was giving her hints that she wasn't at all welcomed in her home.

"You have to excuse my Mother's behavior," Nuan said reassuringly,

"Don't worry, I think she seems... nice,"

"I believe she is," Nuan giggled, noticing the small but friendly lie.

"She's not use to strangers,"

Omi gave a small, nervous giggle that softened Nuan's heart.

"Funny thing is, she's the one who taught me to be hospitable," Nuan added jokingly.

"Nuan!"

"Coming mother! Excuse me," Nuan said before she went into the kitchen.

Omi sat, fiddling with her thumbs nervously, without anything else in mind, She slowly looked up at Nuan's father and Kahn, who sat quietly, smiling at her, she returned them a nervous one.

"So... what's cooking?"

"I dunno, maybe some noodles," Kahn finally said,

 _That's not what I actually meant, but, alright._ Omi shrugged to herself.

"Talking about noodles, lemme tell you a story," Kahn added,

"Ugh, not again," Nuan's father, Jiao, murmured.

 _ **~~~meanwhile in the kitchen~~~**_

"Don't get any funny ideas, Nuan," Nuan's mother said as she stirred the tea,

"I can't just accept any stranger in my household!"

Nuan ignored her mother, obviously it must be the old age that affects her, Nuan shrugged it off as she sliced the the bread.

"You worry too much mother," Nuan sighed,

"Worry too much? and you're not worried that she might be a spy sent from the Fire Nation? A thief-?"

"Mother, she's just a child that Kahn found unconscious in a forest!" Nuan protested,

"A forest nearby Fire Nation territory!" Her mother spat out.

"Aren't _**we**_ in Fire Nation territory?" Nuan stressed,

They do live in the Fire Nation, but outside the city, they lived within the forest in a small farming village. The Next neighbors would be living a mile away, Nuan and her family were indeed farmers that planted crops to raise and sell to a Town that's a mile away from where they are.

"Child or not, I don't trust her," The old woman muttered before leaving.

"...And that is why I can never eat noodles again," Kahn was just finishing telling his story when the two women came out, Jiao slightly face-palmed as Omi sat wide-eyed.

"Uh, that's... an interesting story, Lao Kahn," Omi said,

"Ugh, Kahn-ny, you weren't telling one of your stories of digestion?" Nuan said as she sat the kettle down

"A youngster must learn what happens when a certain food enters the body,"

Omi held back a sickening gag, after that story, maybe she also wasn't going to eat noodles anymore.

* * *

 **This Chapter is pretty quick and easy, well, in my opinion.**

 **It seems that Zuko is trying to leave the past behind him, aaw man! DX**

 **I'm not proud of what I had to do to poor Omi, making her suffer like this, but alas, I can't give my children candy all the time. u.u**

 **I also wasn't planning to add Zuko or anyone, the idea was to focus on how Omi was doing, but since this IS a fanfic I have no other choice but to add it, still, I hope it's very well placed.**

 **Stay tuned for another chapter of _'A Beautiful Flame: A New Way Of_ _Living'_**

 **Ta ta for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

After breakfast, Omi was allowed to venture outside

-well, kicked out of the house for sure-

Nuan's mother just _**insisted**_ that Omi should stay outside to... _"relax and enjoy the fresh morning air"._ Though it was clear enough that she didn't want Omi inside, touching or picking up things around the house while the two women worked on their chores. Nuan highly protested against her mother but Omi reassured her that she didn't mind, stating that it _is_ a chance to be familiarized with her surroundings.

Omi left quietly as the two women scolded each other.

It was a beautiful day, The front yard was a plain grassy area and the territory was surrounded by thick forest, there was a chicken pig pen around the corner and a small garden of herbs behind the house...

She stopped for awhile, having a hunch that someone was staring, she turned around to find that it was true. It was Nuan's mother peeking from the windows, the old lady just scowled and slammed shut the covers. Omi flinched and stick out her tongue at the old hag.

 _~As I was saying...~_

A small shed nearby the barn caught her attention, she came closer and slowly opened the door, suddenly, something hit her from behind and she fell to the ground .

"Hey, you hit someone! Be careful!" A voice was heard. Omi rubbed her back shoulder.

"But I didn't throw it **that** hard!" another childish voice spoke.

Someone scoffed and went over to the fallen person.

"I'm sorry, we were just playing,"

Omi looked up and saw a young boy, behind him was another group boys, probably they were his friends. One of them came over and picked up the ball, he didn't look up to her nor apologize like the other one, in fact he didn't seem to care about the current situation and joined his group.

"Jay, come on, you don't want us to get caught by the old man, do you?" He said to his friend.

"What's your name?" Jay continued, ignoring him.

Omi looked at the group, she felt pure pressure when they seemed bothered that they weren't continuing with their game because of this Jay boy was talking to her.

As if it was _**her**_ fault.

"It's Omi," she said quickly.

Without another word, she stood up and head towards the barn.

"let's go Jay, before Jiao comes back with Kahn!" One of the boys yelled.

Jay looked confused but obeyed his friends.

Omi shut the door of the barn feeling quite embarrassed, she sank onto the floor, alone with the ostrich-horse beast. Although she wasn't familiar with animals, she didn't mind its company. She laid down on a haystack and stared at the ceiling, hearing nothing but the birds outside and the ostrich horse every now and then. She finally came to herself to fire bend, she stretched out her hands and breathed, slowly letting out a spark, but then... there was nothing.

 _~that's odd~_

She concentrated harder, a small flame appeared, but she stopped immediately when her head started to hurt again.

"Don't stress yourself," Jiao came into view, she gasped and sat up straight.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lao Jiao, I wasn't trying to do anything-!"

"My dear, a young fire bender is never guilty of using her power," He reassured,

She frowned, _~ I wish I was never blamed to use my power~_

Omi bowed respectfully to him, he approached.

"I've arrived from hunting and gathering more firewood with Kahn, I must be leaving with him to the plow fields soon ,"

He invited her to sit on the haystack next to him, she did as she was told.

"Now, allow me to take a look at your hands,"

Omi arched a brow but obeyed, Jiao took her hands and upturned her palms, he sat quietly looking at them, humming to himself.

"You can really bend fire, I can see it in your hands,"

Omi took her palms and observed, there were only lines, how could he know? Jiao nodded and began to explain,

"When Kahn first brought you in, I've thought many things: That you were a child, lost in the woods, exiled perhaps, or running away..."

He leaned in closer,

"But I also thought **why...** why would a child be astray in the woods? or exiled, or _why_ is she running runaway?.."

Omi gulped. The man sat up.

"Whatever the reason, I rather _not_ know,"

He stood up, Omi looked at him questioningly, he folded his hands in his sleeves.

"Please stay as long as you want, although I believe Nuan would rather keep you here," Jiao smiled warmly,

He turned to leave but then Omi hesitantly spoke up,

"w-what makes you believe that I can _really_ bend fire?"

The man turned to face her, his bushy white eyebrows lifted as high as possible.

"I know a gifted fire bender when I see one, for I too, can fire bend," He said as his hand was roaring with fire, Omi was frozen in place, then her surprised expression slowly faded into disappointment.

"Is there something wrong, young one?"

Omi fiddled with her fingers,

"It's just that... I can't really bend, I've never been good at it,"

She demonstrated by trying to fire bend, but only a flame sparked then dispersed.

"It must be your head injury," Jiao said,

Omi wished that it was true, but she never had a real lesson in her life and her confidence is really low, she feared that it's **more** than a head injury that's preventing her from actually fire bending.

"You're doubting yourself, aren't you?" Jiao asked,

Omi shrugged. Jiao knew that if she doubted herself, she would never be able to bring any bending from her fingers, for fire never hesitates to burn, nor does it shrink into nothing, it grows and lives, it is strength. But strength must be found, no one is ever born with it.

"Yeah, so?" Omi responded after a while of rubbing her elbow, Jiao sighed.

"I'll be willing to teach you.. A fire bender isn't close to being a real bender unless you have proper training"

When he said that, Omi realized that even if she has blood of a fire bender, she didn't wanted to, in fact, she was afraid to try.

"Tomorrow at dawn, we will began your first day of training,"

"B-but..."

The old man left without saying nor hearing another word, Omi sighed and slumped back on the haystack.

The ostrich-horse whinnied.

"What are _you_ laughing at, huh? **Long face**!" She stuck her tongue out as the creature silenced itself.

That night, Nuan persuaded her mother to allow Omi to sleep inside the house instead at the barn, and with Kahn's help, the old lady had to give in, Nuan showed Omi to the guestroom, a small but adequate space for a tired newcomer.

"I'll give you extra clothes to sleep-"  
"No, it's alright,"

Nuan rested her hands on her hips.

"Now, you are my guest, and I won't have my guest be uncomfortable," She said sternly.

Omi smiled in defeat, Nuan had been kind and comforting, so was Kahn, they both reminded her of her own deceased parents; her mother was always care-taking and her father was light-hearted. She felt lonely at the memory of her parents, she furrowed her eyebrows trying to remember them.

It was becoming hard to even picture how they looked like.

Nuan was taking out extra blankets when she caught Omi concentrating on a thought.

"Is your head hurting again, dear?"

Omi's eyes shot open...

 _ **dear?**_

"Um, no ma'am, I was just thinking," Omi said as she slightly rubbed her forehead.

Nuan took her hand away, reminding Omi not to touch her injury so much.

"Tomorrow I should fetch Qin to check you,"  
"Qin?"

"Yes, an herbalist, but he's more likely a doctor than a skilled professional. We sell our herbs to him,"

"Oh... b-but I have-"  
"Training, I know," Nuan sighed and rolled her eyes,

 _~she's in no condition for harsh movements, why is Father pushing it?!~_ she thought

Nuan gave her new clothes to sleep in, She stepped out to give Omi some privacy.

As she was getting into her clothes, she remembered her mother dressing her, although she couldn't recall for what, let's just say for daily chores at a master's home. Her mother would give her a small peck on the nose right after her head gone through her shirt.

She's not here to do that anymore.

Omi climbed into bed. A few tears escaped her eyes as she tried to gain some sleep.

Nuan came in when she was already fast asleep, she entered to pick up the candle beside the bed, she caught glimpse of the girl's tear-stained cheeks, slowly picking up a piece of her blanket, she wiped the girl's cheeks and graced them with the side of her hand.

 _~Dream beautifully Omi,~_

She thought before blowing the candle's flame.

 _ **~THE FOLLOWING DAY~**_

"Father _please_!" Nuan retorted her father after breakfast

"she's not ready to make such harsh movements, think about her health!",

Jiao wiped his mouth and stood up from the table.

"The young girl is helpless, if she doesn't master her bending, then who knows what could happen."

He walked towards the door where Kahn and Omi waited outside.

"Don't worry my dear, We won't be working on techniques," He reassured.

Nuan sighed in relief.

The three people walked through the woods, Kahn carried Omi to make sure she didn't trip and fall. They past a small cottage, Omi wondered who lived there.

"We all live apart, but we work closely together,"  
Kahn started to say,

"We work at the fields, all of us, and we share what we harvest. That way, we can stick together and work wouldn't be so hard for one family."

Omi listened, probably the boys she saw yesterday were the children of these families, to her curiousity she wondered who belonged where.

"Lao Kahn, where does... Jay live?"

Kahn and Jiao stopped the moment they heard the name.

"You know Jay?" Jiao asked,

"Uh... yes, I met him yesterday."

Jiao and Kahn looked at each other then they shook their heads.

"Don't let Jay nor his friends bother you so much Omi. They're not bad kids, but they could be a handful of mischief sometimes... well, most of the time." Jiao said as they continued walking.

"I see..."

They finally stopped at a grassy clearing, Omi was set down and Jiao unfolded blankets for all of them. She was told that today they would practice meditating,

"m-Mediating?"

"No, _Meditating."_ Jiao corrected.

Meditation is important to clear the mind and practice focus.

"For fire benders, we must learn to control our bending, although our fire must show strength and power as we bend, we must learn to use it for our own protection, without control, Fire can destroy."

"Umm... are fire benders the only ones who must mm mm...meee... meeedii...?"

" **Meditate** , no." Jiao said.

Jiao explained that the Air Nomads are famous for their constant meditation. Because to their training, it helps to clear the mind, allowing it to wander freely, hence the element of air is the element of freedom.

Omi listened in awe of these _Air Nomads._ She asked for more information about them.

"It is great that you have an admiration for these people, but we must not waste any time." He said as he & Kahn positioned themselves on the ground, Omi sat as well.

An hour (that seemed like forever) Passed. Various of times had Omi blinked an eye open towards the two men "meditating", she tried to continued but then suddenly...

"Well, this is boring," She said.

Kahn let out a small chuckle as Jiao opened his eyes slowly.

"Meditating consists of concentration, clearing the mind and breath control, if you do not master your breathing, your bending will be poor enough to even make a baby laugh,"

"Besides, it's peaceful and relaxing,"

"Don't sugar coat it Kahn!" Jiao said firmly.

"Breathing is a critical step, meditation is quite useful to become a great bender on any element."

Omi rolled her eyes.

 _~Whatever...~_

* * *

 **Helloooo my good friends... Sorry for not uploading ^^; this month was crazily busy. But thank goodness there's no writers block here, my mind is just over flowing with stories and plots, I promise you there WILL be a climax. THIS IS AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER! of course there's _gotta_ be a climax somewhere or at least something to cry about or feel awesomely heart warmed. That why we love ATLA so super-duper much. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, keep the finger crossed for another one soon!  
**

 **Another small note I do not own the series nor it's original characters, except the characters here that ya don't see in the show! XD**


	4. Chapter 4

The week started with a rainy and dull weather.

What would one do in a big palace? Other than roaming about and studying in the library. Azula was finally able to reach with her friends, of course, _**they're**_ the ones who have to sacrifice themselves to get to the palace through this horrible weather. But since their loyalty is greater it didn't seem like it mattered.

"So Azula, what do you think we should do?" Ty lee asked curiously,

"Ugh, I wish we can go outside, this weather is really bugging me,"

Azula looked up toward the sky and back to her friends, then an idea sparked.

"I know, how about a game of hide-and-seek?" She said,

"Um, aren't we getting old for that game?" Mei pointed out,

"You're never too old for a classic, besides, what else do _you_ have in mind?"

Mei sighed and shrugged, They ran to find places to hide while Azula counted. Mei ran upstairs and decided to hide in the library, no... that would be an obvious place to look, maybe in the west wing? Mei continued until she turnes a corner and bumped into someone.

They both fell and it didn't took a while for Mei to realize who she bumped into.

Zuko stood slowly, he was brushing himself off while Mei continued looking at him.

"What? you're not going to apologize?" He said, sounding stern. Mei jumped into realization, she slowly stood up and bowed.

"I'm sorry... P-Prince Zuko."

"It's alright I guess, Are you ok?" He asked,

Mei nodded and turned her heel before facing a smirk on Azula's face.

"You lose."

The small house was almost over flowing with water, caused by the multiple leaks on the roof.

Nuan's mother tried to take a nap before a drop or two splashed onto her eyelid, waking up and realizing the situation she grew frustrated and shouted out to her son-in-law from her room.

"Kahn! How many times did we have to tell you to fix these holes before it rains!".

Kahn flinched and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Heheh... sorry, I keep forgetting,"

Omi giggled at him, she was helping placing buckets and bowls underneath the leakes. Nuan said that they could benefit all the water for washing clothes in the day.

She looked over her shoulder, Jiao was looking out the window, as if studying the weather and rain. Omi grew curious.

"Lao Jiao, could you tell me about _water?"_ She asked sitting beside him,

"Water? water is a source for life-"

"I know _that_ , but I mean... you've taught me a few things already about fire, and taught me about air benders and even mentioned earth benders... _Water is an element_ , does that mean that there are water benders too?"

Jiao nodded and began to explain.

"You see, they are people known as the water tribe. They live in the south and north. The southern water tribe and the northern water tribe, there could be both non-benders and water benders. Like the air nomads, they are generally peaceful, although their bending could be strong and damaging if they're ever under attack.

History has been written that the ancestors of the water tribe have gain their power by the lion turtles. While living ontop of the turtles, they eventually learned by observing how the moon pushed and pulled the tides of the ocean. Thus, that is why the moon is their source of power."

Omi listened carefully to every word, She felt reeled into the history of the water benders, it was almost hypnotic. The water tribe learned their powers by spirits, instead of animals.

"Now, how about some meditation?" Jiao chimed through Omi's thoughts.

"Oh no," Nuan interrupted.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again, **no fire bending in the house!** besides with this weather, it'll be impossible for any fire to burn,"

A water drop fell from the roof and splashed on Jiao's forehead.

"See?" Nuan snickered as her father frowned.

 _Meditation isn't fire bending!_

 **~At the palace~**

"OOh! a bamboo! no a dragon horse!..." Ty lee yelled her guesses as Azula acted out an animal, Mei rolled her eyes, being far less than amused at this game than her friend.

"an armadillo bear," Mei sighed.

"Hey, it wasn't your turn!" Ty lee complained.

"You already guessed twice," Mei said as she grudgingly pulled herself to her feet.

"Wait, Mei, since you've guessed it correctly, it's your turn to act out an animal." Azula pointed out before Mei took a step to leave.

"What, I have to actually do it?" Mei said.

"Come on, don't be such a glum, you have to play too!" Azula said as she pulled Mei to the center of the room before taking a seat next to Ty Lee.

"Whenever you're ready,"

Mei stood there for awhile, then sighed as she slowly made a gesture of an animal.

"a... a crane!... a woodpecker!" Ty lee said,

"relax, it's an eagle hawk," Azula said calmly,

" _If I say that it is_ , can we stop this stupid game?"

Azula didn't like her tone, especially when spoken to her in such a rudely manner. So she slightly grinned , coming up with a plan.

"We would but I'm still not quite sure... it _would_ help if you move around instead of standing there like some ancient statue."

Mei groaned abruptly and moved around just like she was being told.

"I think if you could do some noises, that would make it a lot easier,"

" **Really?"** Mei whined. Azula did not answer.

"Fine."

Mei went back into acting out the animal. Azula also shouted to put more energy to it for she and Ty lee did their best when acting their animal.

Mei continued acting. Wiggling, flapping her hands everywhere and cooing.

"A... a messenger hawk! It's gotta be a messenger hawk!"

Azula started to laugh at the poor girl, surely she was having a delighted time seeing quiet and grumpy Mei acting more like a fool than an animal before her eyes.

Mei turned around, sighing to herself. She gasped in embarrasment when she saw that behind where Azula and Ty lee were sitting, Zuko stood wide-eyed with a surprised expression.

" _Come on_ , I almost had it!" Ty lee exclaimed before realizing Mei's sudden reaction,

"Wh-what is it?... oh, hi Zuko!" Ty lee chimed.

Azula still couldn't stop laughing, the situation made it even worse. Mei got red-face and ran out of the room.

"Are you happy Azula? You just embarrased your friend!" Zuko exclaimed while Azula wiped her tears from laughing too much.

"Me? She was the one with bad acting skills," She said leaning back. Zuko only scoffed and left.

Zuko roamed around before spotting Mei near the pond where the turtle ducks used to swim.

He quietly made his way towards her, hearing his approached, Mei turn her face towards him. She didn't seem at all too please to see him, she slowly turned away, looking once again at the empty pond.

"What, no **'oh, it's you'** ?" Zuko said. There was no answer.

"Look... I guess I'll have to apologize on my sister's behalf, she could be wierd sometimes... well, you know her, of course." He sighed.

"I don't care for any apologies at the moment, so you could just chill," Mei said quietly.

"Um.. okay, but please don't feel bothered,"

"I'm not bothered,"

" _Really?"_ Zuko sneered.

"Because you took off like it was the end of the world and you're not even looking at me... yeah, it seems to me like you are,"

"Hey! I said I wasn't, now the only person bothering me is **you**!"

Just then the sky thundered as rain started to pour. Mei groan stressfully as her hair and clothing became quickly drenched. She turned to leave, but as she was leaving She didn't notice the puddle of mud and she slipped and fell. Dirtying her clothing with more water and now covered in mud.

 _~Can this day get any worse!~_

She whipped her face towards Zuko and glared at him as soon as she heard him laughing, . She balled some mud onto her hands and shot it straight at him, hitting him face flat and making him fall onto the dampened earth. Mei smiled in victory.

"So..." Zuko said as he wiped the mud from his face.

"You want to play?"

He started to ball mud onto his own hands, Mei watched him in shock as he took his aim.

"No... no...ah!" She yelped as she was splattered with mud. She got angry and began to throw even more mud at him, he did the same.

Zuko ran to her and she started running, throwing, slipping, and even laughing as the rain poured and the sky thundered.

What was once a fight became a game.

They both continued to throw mud at each other until they heard a voice yelled at them.

"Your highness!" Cried his carer, more like his babysitter.

"You shouldn't be out there, you can get sick! come in at once, both of you!"

Mei ran towards the palace laughing as they both threw mud at the lady, she screamed in utter disgust as mud landed on her face and dress.

Zuko continued to run after her.

"Wait! where are you going?" He yelled.

"It's time for me to go home," She said calmly, Though still in the rain and covered in mud, she spoke to him soothingly and at peace. Zuko blushed as he noticed that even her eyes brighten up.

"I have to go... Bye!" She said giggling. it wasn't a girly giggle,

 _but she giggled._

"thank you for letting me throw mud at your face!" She said running towards her carriage. Zuko was left alone, but he couldn't stop smiling.

"anytime."

* * *

 **HELLUUU THAAR!**  
 **sorry for not updating I am a horrible person, No really I Am!**

 **but here is a new chapter for all of you, I REALLY hope that you guys will enjoy it,**

 **(especially for Meiko fans, [yes my dears, this one is for you]) I love you guys so much, I hope this story gets more views in the future, I promise that in the next chappie there would be more interesting stuff and don't worry... we will see who will be the enemy. We're getting close to that.**

 _ **Leo: Yeah but you keep holding it back!**_

 _ **Me: Excuse me? Holding 'what' back exactly, this story is still at it's beginning!**_

 _ **Leo: LIAR! asadsnsdfbhsjfb ahsjakshak- *Stuffs him in a bag and throws him out of my room***_

 _ **Me: hehehe, sorry about that... but please, let me know what do you think of this story, please be kind and review! I seriously love all reviews like cookies!**_

 **BTW: LEO IS MY CAT. =^.^=**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys!~**

 **Sorry for not updating as quick as possible, I've got a lot of things going on, but I hope that with every chapter, all of you are still anxious onto reading the next.**

 **Thanks!**

 **Please let me know your thoughts, I really love to read all reviews, even the harsh ones. ^^'**

 **Once again, I do not own the original series of** _ **Avatar: The Last Air Bender**_ **nor its original characters except the OCs!**

 _ **NOW ON WITH THE STORY!**_

* * *

"Let yourself be at peace, open your mind," Jiao said as he continued teaching his young pupil along with Kahn.

"Inhale... and exhale..."

The wind slightly picked up, blowing a cool breeze.

"...Do not let anything distract y-"

He stopped as he heard ruffling noises coming from where Omi sat.

"Omi! What are you doing!''

The young girl was caught creating a decorative piece with flowers other than continuing along with her lesson.

"Oh... um... making a flower crown?" She replied. Jiao only narrowed his eyes.

"I'm sorry Master Jiao but... meditating just isn't my thing," Omi sighed.

"Isn't your _thing?_ you think that meditating is just a _thing_ we benders do to pass time?"

"Uh... no,sir."

"Of course not! Meditation helps you to clear your mind and control it."

"Yeah, I know," She said fidgeting the petals of the crown.

"If you ever want to master fire bending, you must first leave these foolish _things_ behind." Jiao said, pointing at the crown.

" can we at least take a break?" Omi asked.

Jiao sighed then dismissed her.

"But only for 10 minutes, then we'll continue." He added.

Omi pouted but she left.

Kahn finally opened his eyes and look towards the white-haired master.

"Take it easy, she's still growing." He reassured his father-in-law.

"I don't know Kahn, sometimes I figured that maybe this is all a mistake."

"Don't tell me, the great-strict-teacher-of-mastering-fire-bending is giving up on a pupil?"

To be honest, Omi was slow on learning fire bending, the techniques, the stances and meditation, even _that alone_ was an example of how bad of a pupil she has become, but the only person she leans on, and listens to more closely, was Nuan.

Of course, their relationship became more bonded over time. And, as a woman and housewife, Nuan taught her how to sew, cook, clean and work in the fields. Then, she taught her to do small fun things like, weaving, knitting, making flower crowns and dolls out of straws of hay. But to Jiao and learning the basics of fire bending, Omi never took it seriously.

"Maybe _she's_ the one giving up too easily." Jiao said to himself.

"What do you mean?" Kahn asked.

"When I first talked to her about training, she seemed.. very uncertain, in fact, I sensed that the thought about mastering fire bending practically scared her. That's why she doesn't do well nor pays full attention... _she doubts herself_."

Kahn sat quietly in thought, he stood up and head towards the direction where Omi went.

"Where are you going?" Jiao asked.

"To find Omi... ten minutes are almost up."

Omi walked through the woods, she was sure a well was somewhere around here.

She finally spotted it and ran over to it, she pulled the rope as hard as she can to have a drink.

 _Fire bending lessons makes her thirsty._

All of a sudden, she heard shouts and laughter.

"Right here!"

"I'm open!"

"Catch!"

Omi crawled behind one of the big trees and peeked around to spot a group of young boys playing a game. She counted Seven in total.

"Hey Sohei! Throw it to me!" One boy shouted. The boy, 'Sohei' seemed familiar to her. She crept closer to watch. She saw this 'Sohei', He was the tallest in the group, probably the oldest. He seemed more focused into the game because of his skillful dodges from the other boys trying to take away the ball. He threw the ball so hard, it headed straight towards Omi, who leaned too closely, and got hit by the ball accidentally.

"AH!" She exclaimed and fell backwards, the boys stopped when they saw her. One of them started chuckling before another slapped him in the stomach.

"SSH! It's a girl!"

 _~Yeah, thank you for noticing,~_ Omi thought while rubbing her forehead.

"Hey, aren't you that girl Master Jiao is teaching?" One of them asked. Omi stood up slowly, picking up their ball and handing it back to them.

"Yeah, she is!" Another shouted. Omi slightly smiled.

"I'm Jay, well, you probably know me by now..."

Omi nodded in response. He was that boy who came to her when she got hit by their ball the first time when she arrived.

"These are my friends," Jay continued before every one of them introduced themselves.

"I'm Siddis,"

"Ren."

"Hi, I'm Sello,"

"I'm Minho,"

"call me Deming,"

"And I'm _leaving_..." One boy said, _and he_ _ **was**_ _leaving._

All the boys turned to see the tallest boy already five feet away.

"Hey, Get back here Sohei!" Jay called to him, but he just ignored him.

"I'm sorry about my brother Sohei, he thinks too much of himself just because he's fourteen," Jay cleared. Omi shrugged it off.

"I'm Omi, by the way." She smiled.

 **~Back at the Fire Nation, In the City of Caldera~**

"I'm **not** going!" Zuko yelled at his sister. She was planning to go into town and her Father insisted that she took along an escort, _and... guess what?_

Zuko seemed perfect for the role.

"Oh, come on," Azula snickered at her pouting brother.

"The rain finally stops and we could use the fresh air,"

Zuko shook his head lightly, there were times when Azula may seem light-hearted, sometimes she even appears to be a good person, just wanting to be with her friends and enjoy...

 _ **But Azula always lies.**_

Of course **he** would know that, Azula is the perfect person to ruin someone's life, and that's exactly what she's doing right now by making him go out in public _to shop._

"Why couldn't you bring Uncle?" He asked.

"Tch, Uncle would just lolly gag and end up shopping _weird_ antiques from peasants" Azula scowled.

"Besides, I don't want my day ruined by the old tea-loving geezer,"

Zuko sighed heavily in response as he looked back at the palace as if it would be the last time he would see it.

"Ugh, _come on,_ we'll be back before you know it." Azula rolled her eyes.

Zuko entered the royal palanquin.

As they were lifted and taken towards the main gates, they could hear the excitement of ther people rustling, awaiting to praise and glance at their beloved royals. Zuko closed the curtain of the small windows when he heard the shouts of girls calling his name.

"Prince Zuko~!" The crowd of girls cooed simultaneously. Only the daughters of the rich, famous & noble called out trying to take at least one look at the Prince who hid his face from the public. He never was a smooth guy who enjoyed the attention, in fact, it even irritated him a little.

 _~It's not fair, he gets all the attention and_ _ **I don't!**_ Azula thought to herself.

All of a sudden, the palanquin stopped and was lowered.

"Why are we stopping?" Zuko asked, quite confused.

"We're picking up Ty lee and Mei, you didn't think I was planning to shop _alone_?" Azula raised an eyebrow.

Zuko rubbed his face in his palms irritatedly,

" **Great. Now I'm escorting a Girls' day out!"** He exclaimed, Azula smirked evily, enjoying her brother's irritated look.

Mei and Ty Lee entered. Mei came in with a depressed look before her expression changed when she found Zuko here.

"Zuko? Why are you here?" Ty Lee asked, quite surprised herself.

"What, can't _**I**_ go **out** in public!" Zuko spat out.

"Ugh, Azula you said it was girls only." Ty lee exclaimed.

"Of course it is. Just that he's the escort. Father's orders." Azula said while she flicked one of her hair bangs.

"I think it's great seeing you." Mei said calmly, Zuko crossed his arms and looked away as he blushed.

"Thanks,...er... likewise."

The palanquin was lifted once again, the royals and entourage were being carried to the market.

They passed the announcement board of the city where announcements, flyers, want ads and even wanted criminal posters were put up.

One of them read:

 _WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: GOH MIN YI_

 _LAST SEEN: IN LORD HUANG'S ESTATE_

 _DESCRIPTION: BACK HAIR AND BEARD, WHITE SKIN AND GREY EYES_

 _CRIME: FORGERY_

 _REWARD: 500 YUANS_

* * *

 _WANTED ALIVE: ADMIRAL JEONG JEONG_

 _LAST SEEN: FIRE NATION ARMY_

 _DESCRIPTION: DANGEROUS, FIRE BENDER PRODIGY_

 _CRIME: OPPOSER AND TRAITOR TO HIS NATION_

 _REWARD: 1,200 YUANS_

* * *

 _WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: MIZUK SONG_

 _LAST SEEN: FIRE NATION ARMY_

 _DESCRIPTION: CRAZY EYED, TWISTED PERSONALITY, TROUBLESOME BEHAVIOR_

 _CRIME: ASSAULTS_

 _REWARD: 800 YUANS_

* * *

 _WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: SLAVE KNOWN AS OMI_

 _LAST SEEN: IN LORD RUAN'S ESTATE AT THE FIRE NATION COLONIES_

 _DESCRIPTION: ILLEGAL FIRE BENDER, DANGEROUS, GREEN EYES, BLACK HAIR OFTEN BRAIDED._

 _CRIME: RUNAWAY SLAVE_

 _REWARD: 1,600 YUANS_

* * *

 **Hi there! I apologize if this one is short, it's just that I really wanted to update a chapter. I wanted to write more, like how Jiao was suppose to be teaching Omi fire bending,**

 **do not worry worthy readers! It will come!**

 **Anyways for those who were thinking: Why does Omi call Jiao, 'Lao Jiao' ?**

 **Let me explain that, instead of calling him 'Mr.' I wanted to express some Chinese in this since the series is based in a lot of Asian culture.**

 **In China, a younger person refers a male adult as 'Lao'.**

 **Ie. You live in China, your next door neighbor's name Ying (I'm just making this up) and he's like 65 years old, so how you would demonstrate your respect to him would be calling him 'Lao Ying'. So here in this story, I wanted to demonstrate how Omi would respect her elders, in this case, Jiao would be known and refer to as 'Lao Jiao' before she calls him 'Master', same thing goes with Kahn.**

 **But who knows? maybe since Nuan and Omi are bonding quite well, those names would be traded into "Baba and Gram-Gramp." (Father/daddy/dad in Chinese and Water tribe reference tehehe )**

 **Another thing, Kahn is NOT a fire bender, he's training along with Omi and Jiao because he regularly spends his time with his father-in-law, which probably some of you might have guessed. But I will explain with more details of Kahn's skills in the next chappie!**

 ** _Bye! Kisses~~~! ~(*3*)~_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys!~**

 **New chapterrr! hope y'all can enjoy! ^^**

 **I do not own Avatar: The Last Air bender nor its original characters but mine.**

 **Now on with the story!**

* * *

"No... Please... I-I didn't mean it!"

A slave pleaded before the city's judge at the Fire Nation's Northern Prison. It was known to arrest and sentence Slaves from any element, even their own. It was the worst place to end up in, if slaves were lucky, they'd be transferred to The Fire Nation's Capital Prison or Boiling Rock, even if they're known as the Fire Nation's inescapable prisons, the Northern Prison was known as the inescapable living _**Hell**_ for all slaves.

One of the guards sneered at the pitiful sight of the pleading man bowing and trembling before the judge, who looked through the papers of the accused.

"It says here that after being received into the home of Lord Umar's residence, you have outnumberly threatened him by purposely spilling tea on him and even set his kitchen on fire and accused of being a fire bender-"

"I'm not! I-I mean... Y-yes my master h-has received me well... b-but I-I'm a nervous man! I didn't mean to spill t-the tea and c-cause t-the fire I swear! **it's all lies!"**

The judge rolled his eyes and waved his hand.

"I've heard enough, I standby here sentence you to the northern Prison." He said as he slammed down his club. The guards began to drag away the pleading man towards his fate.

"No! t-this is all a mistake! I-I'm not a fire bender I swear!"

The judge sat, putting away papers until he heard the grand doors open. A tall intimidating man stepped in, he calmly walked towards the judge, his boots thundered against the floor, making the walls and ceiling almost tremble.

His eyes were harsh and black, he looked stern and fearless like a dangerous predator hunting for prey at night.

He wore Animal skin and fur, he carried knives and a whip around his belt, just in case if an enemy close by would try to pick a fight with him.

Although his figure could make The Grand City of Omashu crumble into dust, None of it concerned the judge.

"Ah, Bounty Hunter Chozan, you're here." The Judge said.

The Hunter growled at the man.

"What do you want?" Chozan asked, his voice, low and husky.

"Here, you're a bounty hunter, I think you got an idea as to _why_ you're here," The Judge said as he handed him papers of wanted posters of slaves, but not any ordinary runaways, but the ones that the city chose to capture as soon as possible.

 _tch._ The bounty hunter thought as he looked through the papers.

"As you know, you are the most qualified bounty hunter to capture the most troublesome and dangerous people, including slaves. None of this should be a problem."

The Judge sat down as he looked through more papers before finding one more and handing it to Chozan.

"Here, _especially this one."_

Chozan frozed, his eyebrows furrowed deeply as he peeked at the price: _**1,600 YUANS**_

"A runaway, eh?"

"Not just a runaway, a **fire bender** " The judge stressed, The Hunter looked at the picture of a young girl in a hair braid. _She seems defenseless, this should be an easy capture._

The Judge read the hunter's expression.

"Don't be fooled, she seems harmless but she's quite dangerous, she tried to burn a Lord's daughter _alive,_ and even burned the hands of the guards who tried to seize her... what a frightening thing." The Judge said as he shivered.

 _~HA. No wonder, he's_ _ **afraid...~**_ The Hunter smirked.

"I will start with this one..."

"Better hurry, many people already came by with an accused slave girl because of the reward,"

 _Talk about desperate for money._

"I wouldn't blame them," Chozan said as he began to make his way out.

 _~A Runaway slave girl who fire bends...~_ Chozan thought to himself as he studied the picture and the reward.

 _~This should be interesting...~_

Today, Omi sat beneath the shade of a tree while she watched three of the boys practice their fire bending with Jiao and the other four practiced their archery with Kahn.

She was amazed that the fire bending students were quite skilled! she noticed Sohei's concentrated yet stoic expression as he did a Fire whip against Minho and Sello, who both dodged easily his attack and responded with multiple fire blasts.

Sohei blocked them all before he kicked and released fiery discs towards them, The two boys struggled before one of them were pushed back towards the ground, they weren't burned but they quickly surrendered.

"Hey Sohei! Stop pushing it too far!" Sello yelled back at him.

It would be typical that a young person like Sohei would smirk and boast at his victory, but instead he calmly walked towards his master and bowed to him respectfully. Jiao nodded his approval and patted the young boy's head.

"You have learned well, more practice and you'll be a master fire bender before your sixteenth birthday," Jiao nodded.

"Thank you master, I am honored that I've learned so much from you," He said.

Omi shrugged off from all of this _**"honorable act"**_. She didn't like Sohei, and it bothered her that Master Jiao approved of him so much. Ever since she arrived, Sohei was... well... _awkward_.

At least that's how Jay puts it. He had told her that Sohei _is_ the serious type but he would help his friends whenever they needed him, and since Sohei is the oldest, He helps his father in every way he can, Their mother died from sickness when they were young and since then, Sohei never talked about her, he wouldn't even look at Nuan in the eye when she spoke to him. Now, since there's a newcomer _-a female one at that-_ He shuts himself away and never speaks.

Omi turned away from the benders, and _**shot a glance**_ towards the archers. (ohoho PUNSSSSokno)

Kahn, their archery master, taught them how to shoot flying objects, moving targets as well as shooting without even killing, Today, Kahn was making them do a practice run for hunting, but instead of just aiming, and letting the arrow whip away from the bow, he decided to use this practice **as a game.**

He carried a stack of arrows with cotton and cloth wrapped at the end, two sets with two different colors: orange and blue.

Ren and Siddis: blue team.

Jay and Deming: Orange team.

The boys, instead of hunting live bait, they were going to hunt _each other._

Omi stood nearby with intrigued curiosity.

They got into groups of two, one was the orange group, the other was the blue group.

"Hunting is an art of survival, you either kill to live, or kill to defend, never used as a game, or else you'd be playing your lives with death." Kahn said

"Concentrate. The idea of this practice is to hunt down your game without being seen nor heard".

Deming wrapped his arm around his teammate, Jay. And whispered.

"Get ready to color their-!"

"Ah ah ah! Jay, Deming, please take this seriously." Kahn interrupted as he waved an extra arrow like a baton. He also carried an hourglass to time them and a horn made from a mountain mule's horns.

The rules of the game were simple, two groups will be sent to different directions, they will continue to walk deeper into the woods until Kahn gives the signal of sounding the horn for them to officially start hunting each other.

Getting lost is out of the question, a hunter must be aware of his directions like the game/prey _must_ stay aware of their surroundings for predators.

The rest is up to their skills of hunting.

Until the hourglass finishes, the time of their hunting will be up, so they must be quick.

Then they must find their way back and reveal the winning team. The team who shoots and marks the other team the most, wins.

Omi walked silently towards them, Kahn noticed and kindly said to her.

"Would you like to help me train them?"

Omi nodded shyly, Kahn sended the boys off in different directions. While Omi waited with Kahn, she made a quick glance towards the firebending students, Jiao shouted as they obeyed making firebending forms.

In Comparison to them,Omi felt useless, she wasn't anything but a total wreck with her firebending lessons, it became so frustrating that Jiao even decided to postpone little by little her lessons.

 **~~Flashback~~**

Omi ran from the house, she was helping Nuan with the housework until she finally realized it was time for her lessons.

When she reached the area where she usually trains, she found Jiao walking away.

"Lao Jiao!" She shouted as she ran up to him.

"I'm ready for my lessons," she said panting. Jiao's bushy white eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"Um... s-sorry for coming late, I-I lost track of time helping-"  
"It's alright young one..." Jiao barely murmured. He brushed passed Omi.

"We'll continue tomorrow," He said quietly. Omi looked at him walking away.

"B-but my lesson..."

Jiao didn't answer, he continued walking away, like he did the day after that and the day after that...

 **~~End of Flashback~~**

Omi felt burdened, she knew that most of it was her fault, because she never wanted payed attention. Now that she sees the boys skillfully fire bending, she couldn't help but feel held back and even _jealousy_.

She picked up her hands and bended a flame, but that's all she could do. And at the same time, it was all she wanted to do.

With a sigh, she lets out the flame, questioning herself why she never wanted to use her powers ever since Jiao offered to teach her.

"Something on your mind kiddo?" Kahn asked, seeing her thoughtful expression.

"Oh, um... it's nothing..." She shrugged.

Kahn thought for a moment, then he had an idea for her.

"You know, this forest is pretty empty, not even a chipmunk squirrel can be seen,"

"You mean, not one animal lives in this forest?"

"Well, if you see one, it would be rare thing, but that's not my point here."

He bend down and whispered in her ear, Omi blushed with shyness on what he purposed for her to do.

"Come on, you need to lift up your spirits, and it's fun!" Kahn said.

"Y-you sure that they won't get mad at me?" She asked,

"Naaaaaaa. They won't even know it's you! besides I done it myself a few times in the past" Kahn grinned .

Omi thought for a moment then she smiled.

"I'll do it!"

"That's m'girl!" Kahn patted her head as she giggled.

Omi ran through the forest, where she knew where one group would be. She carried a few things: ropes, nets, a few pebbles, slingshot, etc. things she can use _to mess with them._

 _Run into the forest, don't let them see you..._

she remembered Kahn saying to her.

 _Use some items that I brought secretly with me, mess with their game, trick them, anything to help them be aware of the unexpected..._

"I have to get quickly into the forest!" She said to herself.

"Before Kahn blows the-WAAH!" She yelped as she fell flat on the face into a pile of mud.

Slowly picking herself up, she heard the horn, signaling that the game began, she looked at herself, then an immediate idea occurred to her, she covered herself more with mud so she can blend in with the forest.

 _ **~~Meanwhile~~**_

Deming held his hand up accidentally slapping his teammate in the face at the sound in the distance

"Ssh! I hear the horn!" .

Jay held back a growl as he rubbed his now red cheek.

"Yes. I **heard** it. thank you, Deming" he frowned.

"Ssh! We can't be heard!" Deming carefully shouted in a whisper, Jay sighed. They took out their arrows and prepared themselves for any attack.

They carefully and silently crept, peeking from behind trees and staying in the shadows.

They heard a twig crack, both of them hid, they waited for something to appear. Minutes passed but nothing else stirred, Jay made the first move to peek, until something hit him from behind, he grunted and look back towards Deming who was unaware of what just happened.

"Hey! what d'you do that for?!" Jay shouted across towards Deming,

"Ssh! did what!?" Deming shouted again in a whisper.

"You threw something at me!"

"What?! I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"Can we stop this! it's not the time to be arguing!" Deming quietly moved from his spot, he felt a slight wind pass his hair, as if something was thrown at him only to miss him by an inch, he quietly gasp and retreated to his natural spot.

"Something almost hit me!" .

Deming looked back to see nothing but thick forest. Jay began to move from his spot, reaching the shade of another tree, he took one step until something grasped his ankle and...

"AAAH!" Jay let out a high-pitched girly squeal as he fell face-flat on the ground, making Deming giggle uncontrollably, Jay lifted his head up to face him angrily, this caused Deming to howl in laughter when he saw his face covered in mud except for his eyes.

Without warning, blue arrows shot right passed them, almost coloring their-

"AAAAAAH!" Deming ran into hiding.

"Don't scream! remember your training!" Jay ran after him.

At a mile away, two boys hid behind gigantic tree stumps, Siddis prepared for another shot before he moved to a new spot, he glanced back at his teammate, Ren.

He started to send signals to Siddis, holding two fingers up, down and all-around, which, made Ren impatient and frustrated.

"Could you stop that! I'm right here!" He shouted quietly,

"Pfft. Sneak on them." Ren rolled his eyes.

"That's what you were saying?!" Siddis grew annoyed, He then shook it off and ran closer to where the other team once stood.

Behind a tree, he spotted the backside of one of the other two. Siddis smiled mischievously, he prepared his bow and arrow.

Kahn watched the grains of the hour glass, Until Jiao came after dismissing his own students for a five-minute break.

"What are you up to _now,_ Kahn." Jiao sighed. Kahn faced the older man.

"What do you mean? Of course we're training"

All of sudden, a girly shriek was heard in the distance, sending a flock of birds away into the sky. Jiao folded his arms, looking at his silly son-in-law. Who smirked while stifling a low chuckle.

"Training... _right_ "

Jay sat and squirmed in the dirt trying to rub-off the stain of the arrow that shot him right in the-

"It's no use! We're going to lose!" Deming whined quietly as he looked around carefully from his hiding spot.

"Hey, that rhymed, use, lose, moose, goose,-"

"Stop that rhyming!" Jay spat at him.

"We're losing our timing!"

"Sorry." Deming apologized.

 _That also rhymed._

Just then, a mysterious figure ran out of sight. The boys frozed in place.

They couldn't believe it was the other team, or could it? The rules was to work together and never alone. The two boys finally assumed they were cheating, so Jay decided to go after them while Deming stayed to take care of the other opponent. They nodded in agreement and split.

Jay sneaked quietly towards the direction the shadow took off.

 _Not today, bucko. This time, I'm winning._

Meanwhile, the other team also spotted the mysterious shadow that skillfully, and without a sound, dissapeared deeper into the woods.

"Could that be the other team? But, It's just one!" Siddis gritted his teeth.

"They can't be cheating, Let's go after him!" Ren declared,

"No, _I'll_ go after him, you watch my back." Siddis replied.

"Sounds like a plan." Ren agreed.

The mysterious figure hid between thick bushes, covered in mud, twigs and leaves for camouflage.

It rummage through the dirt to find new pebbles for their slingshot.

Until they heard a twig snap close by. It stopped rummaging when they heard voices.

"I think he went this way," Someone whispered.

"Prepare your bow Jay," Another replied.

The small figure between the bushes slowed their breathing, it tried to coil itself but that caused the bushes to shake only slightly.

"Wait, _Deming.."_ warned the voice known as Jay.

The two boys prepare their arrows, keeping still in their personal hiding spots.

 _Come out, come out whoever you are~_

The figure panicked and decided it was best to make a run for it. The bushes shook violently as the figure rapidly got up, The boys were about to shoot until their senses immediately alerted them to shoot the other direction behind them. It was the other team who ambushed them, they skillfully dodged the orange painted arrows & retreated back behind trees to prepare another aim.

Using this distraction, the figure was able to get up and ran away.

Jay and Deming were surprised, if that person wasn't one of the other two, then _who on earth was that?!_

Jay prepared his bow and arrow, Both running behind a tree to be able to spot and shoot from there.

Siddis from the other team, slightly rubbed his foot against the dirt, as a habit to steady himself and to activate his senses even more.

He can sense the presence of his opponents easier.

He gave signals once again towards his partner Ren, - **only this time, it was clearer to understand** -

His partner from five-feet away nodded in agreement. He took out gooey sabe tree leaves from his small satchel.[1] He started chewing them rapidly before slowing down when the leaves became gooey. He swallowed the sweet taste and spit the leaves out and smacked them over his face, arms, legs and hands. After being mostly covered by leaves, he lightly sidestepped around leaves, twigs and branches to prevent making a sound. Until he reached a well-spot in between two very thick tree trunks that helped him blend in with the forest more, his eyes searched through the forest until he locked his gaze over his next target: Jay from the orange team. he quickly and swiftly prepared a bow.

 _sssnap!_

Wait, what?

 _CRASH!_

Ren grunted loudly when he felt a heavy weight smacked him to the ground. The noise of of the collision alarmed the other team and started to shoot at him, he felt the bows whipping past his hair just inches away. He quickly rolled himself behind a tree. He got up and started shooting, his bows smacked against the other team, coloring their faces blue from each hits.

He looked around to see what cause his collision, but nothing was found, no rock, branch or anything.

Huh...

 _Splat!_

A bit of blue dust covered around him.

"Crackerjacks I got distracted!" He cursed himself, he ran deeper into the woods, knowing that the others would come after him. He turned around against the trunk of a tree, he spied only a little just to dodge another attack. How did they catch him so fast?

 _Siddis, where are you?!_

Siddis turned around, ready to shoot but nobody was there. He hid once again. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the adrenaline in his veins, his breathing finally evened. He took a slow breath and aimed his bow on the the other side, expecting to shoot someone.

Alas, no one was there once again.

He hid his body entirely in the shadows of a nearby shrub, Once he was able to settle in quietly his eyes searched his surroundings, the forest was dead quiet naturally, but knowing how there are others besides him, it felt even more quiet. Where's the other team?

where's Ren?

The silence was making him impatient, he stood up naturally, grunting in disfavor how it seems that the training was lacking it's energetic charisma. He walked away from the shrubs, not caring anymore if he made loud noises. He continued walking until he finally heard an extra pair of footsteps. He stopped to listened. But then _**It**_ stopped, He turned around quickly to see nothing, he hid _just in case_. Preparing a bow, he suddenly felt a presence, a presence _way_ too close for their own good. He smiled to himself, he leaned in around the tree to peek, unknowingly the figure leaned in towards the opposite.

Since Siddis couldn't see anyone, he leaned to the other side. The figure did the exact opposite. Since Siddis was growing impatient to win, he creeped around the tree, while the figure creeped around as well. They were both going in circles. Siddis stopped for a moment looking puzzled.

The figure slowly backed up, until it hit back-to-back with Siddis. It frozed until Siddis grabbed it and threw it on the ground, but the figure held him to closely, causing them both to fall. The figure squirmed until he finally got away. Siddis quickly shot it, hitting it square on the neck. The figure stumbled and fell down a lop-sided path, rolling into the bushes.

All of sudden, yells and Kahn's horn was heard. Siddis ran towards the sounds of yelling. He cried out their names, until one of them signaled him to look up, only to be welcomed by a ball of blue powder and giggles. He opened his eyes to see his three friends all covered with color and trapped in a boobie-trap net.

"Who did this!" Siddis exclaimed.

The boys just giggled and began to throw him more powdered-balls at him, he ran to cut them loose.

"Stop that! This isn't fair!" He yelled at them, Kahn's horn was heard once again.

"We gotta go now-!" The boys' voices were caught in surprise when they suddenly dropped onto the ground with a loud thud.

"Let's go now!" Siddis scurried to pick up a puzzled Ren when his partner carried him over his shoulder.

Kahn had already turned the hour-glass to time the boys who can get here before the sand ran out.

It was already half-way before Ren and Siddis had dashed from the forest and collapsed before Kahn. A few moments later, the other team finally emerged, panting and sweating.

Kahn smiled warmly at his pupils.

"Good work kiddos! now let's see which team had scored the most points." He checked them all to count how much coloring patches they received from the opposing team on their faces, heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

(Of course, behinds too!)

From the looks of it- and according to Kahn's masculine mathematics-, The orange team had won.

Jay and Deming jumped in triumph, before remembering the #1 rule in all games: The winner would always humble himself, showing gratitude towards the opponent.

"We were honored to play your side" Jay and Deming bowed respectfully to Ren, Siddis and their Master Kahn.

"Good work men, now let's go back home, our mothers aaaand my lovely-dovely wife awaits us at home"

The boys bowed once more before leaving. Jay caught sight of his brother Sohei waiting for him underneath the shade of a small tree.

"Sohei! My team won this time!" Jay said happily.

"When are you really going to learn, instead of playing kid games?" Sohei scoffed.

"Well, arching _is_ like a game, but I'm learning, my precision and aim's getting better, Thanks to Kahn." He smiled. Sohei rolled his eyes.

 _~yeah, some teacher~_

The boys continued walking,

"So what about you Flame-thrower, can you light up a fire for tea tonight?" Jay chuckled.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Of course I can do _so much more_ than that" Sohei smirked.

"That's the spirit Bro!" Jay smacked Sohei's back, making him stumble forward a bit.

"Don't hit me. You're covered in leaves and mud," Sohei shook his coat for any dirt.

"Sorry, we had a real big time in the game, I mean Kahn really outdid himself with the secret traps. It's like, as if he knew where we'd stepped and take us by surprise."

Sohei raised an eyebrow.

"Secret traps, why would he place secret traps?"

"He places them everywhere in the forest, so it helps us to be more alert, to be more cautious where we step. An archer who can aim well will never be as good as the archer who keeps his senses activated at all times. Or else, _**he**_ will become the target, savvy?" Jay grinned.

Sohei looked at his younger brother seriously before melting into a smile.

"You're so weird" He ruffled his younger brother's powdery-orange hair.

 _ **~In the evening~**_

"I'm so very happy that my family has been invited to the warmth of your home, Master Jiao" Jay and Sohei's Father said as the three of them bowed.

"Our home is opened to anyone with a good heart." Jiao's wife reassured.

"But most importantly, to your son, Sohei, with a great talent and noble effort in his training." Lao Jiao nodded to Sohei, who sat between his father and Jay.

"E-Excuse me, master Jiao, uh, where's Omi?" Jay asked nervously.

"who?" His father furrowed his eyebrows. Sohei sent a glare at his brother at the sound of the girl's name. Kahn entered the house through the kitchen, Nuan grew worried when she saw him arrive without Omi.

"Kahn... where's Omi?" She began to say menacingly.

Now, To be honest, Kahn wasn't sure how to answer that also. So he began to fidget before he tried to speak.

"Well... uh... Omi, um...S-she-"

Just then, the door slowly opened. The invitees frozed, eyes wide open. Jiao's wife was startled and grabbed hold of her husband's sleeve.

"Sh-sh-she's right there!" Kahn pointed to the entry where a figured stood, covered in mud, head-to-toe, with leaves stuck all over her body. Her braid horribly misshapen and her eyes vividly scanning each person.

Kahn sighed in relief

 _~Saved by the mud-girl~_

"Oh!... I'm so sorry," Omi started to speak.

"I didn't know we had guests." She giggled nervously, before silencing herself once she met Jiao's disapproving gaze.

"Where were you?" Nuan ran to her, cupping Omi's cheeks.

"I was... I was playing with... Mud?" She said, watching Kahn, who sent her signals.

"Yeah... I was doing that."

The guests looked puzzled at Jiao who tried his best to keep calm, Because he was straight-up embarrassed.

"OK, OK, let's get you cleaned up." Nuan nodded. They turned around, Jay noticed a bit of color around the area of her neck.

 _Wait... Is that!_

Jay gasped before Kahn wrapped the boy's mouth with his arm so he wouldn't speak.

" _Sooo_ did you know, Jay completed very well in his training today?~" Kahn said happily while keeping a wiggling Jay underneath his grasp. He nervously glanced towards his wife who straight-faced mouthed him: **We will talk later.**

* * *

 **[1.]** (A sabe tree is a medium size tree with sweet leaves, it attracts any herbivore animal in the forest, the leaves, when chewed, they have a small sweet taste and they become gooey like bubblegum, hence the name "gooey sabe tree", many warriors who must fight within the forest chewed these leaves so they can stick them to their skin for camouflage, it's also used for treating wounds when bandages run scarce).

* * *

 **busteeeed.**

 **Hey everyone, sorry it took me a long time, I was really depressed lately, I just couldn't bring myself to the computer and just, type.**

 **MUST. GET. WRITING!**

 **I hope you all have a wonderful year, and please keep up your highest dreams and hopes for a better future because being in the dump isn't going to cut out for anybody, not even Trump.**

 ** _That's what she said!_**

 **Anywho, Enjoy this chappie, enjoy life, hope for more because I'm still swinging, even if you like it or not.**

 **I mean it.**

 **Until next time.**

 **buh-bye!**


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